1.  Yes.

2.  Unknown -- some packages will work after cloning;  others will not.

3.  No.

4.  Acronis is very easy to use.  HOWEVER,

You CANNOT clone the entire drive.  If you do, the result will be the same size as the original.  For the reasons, see:

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/hpa-issues.htm

I forgot to add a few more details. I already have linux also installed on my drive. I have GRUB boot installed. Pressing Dell Media direct key won't do anything it will take you to Grub boot. It means I already overwritten the Dell MBR and not to worry about HPA?

Thanks for your help!!!!!

Hi EJN63,

I have a dell utility partition but I'm not sure whether it's based on HPA or Media Direct 3.0. Is there a way to know this? Can I skip that partition when I clone it?

Go into the BIOS and see if the drive is reported at its full capacity.  If it is, you should be safe.  If there's a missing chunk of about 2-2.5 GBytes, the HPA is still there and you will not be able to clone the drive.

It should be - you cannot clone the Media Direct partition though.

Go into the BIOS and see if the drive is reported at its full capacity.  If it is, you should be safe.  If there's a missing chunk of about 2-2.5 GBytes, the HPA is still there and you will not be able to clone the drive.

Hi EJN63,

Thanks for your help. I did look at BIOS. It reports the full 78GB (80GB=80000/1024=78.125). It reports only the 78. Am I calculating correctly? The dismgmt.msc reports only 73.xx and I hope the BIOS reads it completely. Does it mean my hard drive is clonable without any issues?

Again, thanks for your hlep.